Why a Booktrail?
1960s: Two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change
Distant Signs
What you need to know before your trail
Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed.
Travel Guide
Distant Signs in East Germany 1960s
The book, as well as covering relationships and families in the aftermath of war, covers a range of issues such as the time and horrors of WWII, the birth and fall of the German Democratic Republic and the significance of the Berlin Wall.
An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over the political? Can we rise above our histories and political identities to forge a new understanding of the past and to welcome change?
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Distant Signs
Destination : Germany, Berlin Author/Guide: Anne Richter Departure Time: 1960s
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